A fifth-wheel trailer is generally a large, high profile trailer which is coupled to a large towing vehicle, such as a large pick-up truck. The fifth-wheel trailer is typically coupled to the truck with a fifth-wheel hitch or a ball-hitch. The fifth-wheel hitch is typically permanently mounted in the bed of the truck and is made to couple directly to the fifth wheel trailer. The fifth-wheel hitch, however, is bulky with a high profile, limiting the space in the bed of the truck and often resulting in annoyance to the truck owner when desiring to use the truck for uses other than towing the fifth-wheel trailer.
The ball-hitch also permanently mounts in the bed of the truck, but is less bulky and low in profile. The ball-hitch is typically made to attach to what has become known in the industry as a gooseneck type assembly. The gooseneck type assembly typically includes an extended, crooked neck which is configured to extend from the fifth-wheel trailer into the bed of the pick-up truck. The free end of the neck includes a ball receiving locking mechanism for rotatably coupling to the ball-hitch mounted to the bottom of the bed of the pick-up truck. One example of a gooseneck type assembly is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,270 to Colibert.
One problem with towing a fifth wheel trailer is that such towing is primarily limited to long-bed pick-up trucks. The long-bed pick-up trucks are used for such towing, as opposed to short-bed trucks, due to the danger of the front of the trailer hitting the cab when making a sharp turn, such as a 90 degree turn. Further, pick-up trucks having long-beds are generally designed to carry large loads with greater suspension and towing capabilities. Due to the clearance between the front of the fifth-wheel trailer and the cab of the pick-up truck, short-bed trucks have essentially been limited to towing from the hitch at the rear-end of the truck, which excludes fifth-wheel trailers.
However, there is a large market for short-bed trucks due to their versatility, smaller turning radius and more compact nature. Further, many of the short-bed trucks include suspension and towing capabilities sufficient to handle many of the fifth-wheel trailers. It would therefore be advantageous to be able to utilize short-bed pick-up trucks for towing a fifth-wheel trailer with the clearance necessary to make sharp turns without damaging the front of the trailer and the cab of the truck.